To Hell with Your Youth!

"Still a little short!" Sarutobi Toru sighed.

Hiruko's face twisted beside him. "Hey, hey, hey, are you kidding me?! You can push Reverse-Attribute Defense to this extent, and you still call that a little short?!"

Sarutobi Toru did not bother explaining. His enhanced physique had given him astonishing talent in buffing ninjutsu and Nintaijutsu. Just like how Cloud Shadow's inherited Nintaijutsu practitioners were all muscle-bound brutes, the stronger one's physique, the more buffs one could withstand, and the greater the margin for error during training.

Trying to cultivate this kind of Secret Technique without a strong enough physique was the sort of thing that got you killed without even knowing how.

Sarutobi Toru's Lightning Release Chakra Mode was naturally nowhere near as powerful as the Raikage line's, but his physique was far tougher than that of the Yagura clan. He could take his time developing and testing it. At worst, a mistake would just make him twitch; if his physique were not strong enough, one twitch while practicing Lightning Release Chakra Mode might electrocute him to death.

If he kept developing it slowly, the final result might not necessarily be inferior to the Raikage's.

Hatake Sakumo frowned as he looked at his short sword. Its edge had already curled. Though it was not some treasured blade made of chakra metal, it was still an exquisite weapon forged from refined steel. Yet after a single move, it had ended up like this.

"Enough staring. I heard Teacher Danzo has a chakra short sword at home. Why not ask him about it? Then you won't have to keep changing swords every day."

At the mention of a chakra short sword, Hatake Sakumo's eyes lit up, only for him to frown again. "Isn't that too valuable?"

"Teacher Danzo's Wind Release follows a long-range path anyway, so he has no use for that short sword. He might as well give it to his prized disciple who inherited his true teachings."

"I'm hardly his most prized disciple." Hatake Sakumo stared at Sarutobi Toru. "In terms of strength, you surpass me by far. In terms of ninjutsu inheritance, Hiruko is more like Teacher Danzo."

Sarutobi Toru curled his lip. His strength had mostly come from his own development and self-study. Danzo's greatest contributions had been Root's archives, laboratories, and the experimental subjects he had sent over.

Although Hiruko now appeared to be cut from the same cloth as Danzo, his true expertise lay in human Forbidden Jutsu. It was merely that the results of Forbidden Jutsu research took longer to show, and he was still in a transitional phase.

Even so, he was already one of Root's top researchers, second only to Sarutobi Toru in status within the research institute.

Only Hatake Sakumo followed the orthodox ninja path. Though his Nintaijutsu combined Wind and Lightning Release and did not match Danzo's all-round path of Wind Release, taijutsu, and summoning, he had indeed inherited Danzo's most essential teachings: the research into Wind Release's nature and form transformations.

So Hatake Sakumo truly was Danzo's prized disciple. Hiruko and Sarutobi Toru had merely made use of Root's platform.

After leaving the troubled Hatake Sakumo behind, Sarutobi Toru reflected that the chakra short sword had actually been specially commissioned by Danzo some time ago. He was probably waiting for an excuse to reward his prized disciple with it. By bringing it up now, Sarutobi Toru was simply giving Hatake Sakumo some advance warning.

The elderly Pot Kage might have had many flaws, but the young Danzo of today was decisive and tough-minded. He was strict with his subordinates, yet clear in rewards and punishments, and generous when he gave. He truly possessed a certain personal charisma.

Otherwise, he could not have competed with his uncle for the position of Hokage, then, after losing, still held up Root and become Konoha's second-in-command.

Sarutobi Toru brought Hiruko back to his laboratory. A green-clad youth of fourteen or fifteen was already inside, engaged in taijutsu training.

Unlike the physical training of ordinary ninja, he was practicing a strange set of punches. It seemed to exercise most of the muscles and skin across his body. As he moved, his entire body flushed blood-red.

"That's enough, Duy!" Sarutobi Toru called sharply, his expression stern.

Only then did the green-clad youth hurriedly stop and flash Sarutobi Toru an innocent smile.

Sarutobi Toru remained unmoved. "Duy, I should have warned you that this training method isn't mature yet. It carries serious hidden dangers. One careless mistake could leave you crippled, paralyzed, or even dead! You must strictly control both the duration and frequency of your daily training! Have you been treating my words like water off a duck's back?!"

Duy lowered his head and muttered, "But youth must not be wasted!"

With that, Duy raised his head, two thick streams of tears running down his face.

Sarutobi Toru felt an enormous headache coming on. At last, he understood why Might Duy, Root's secret weapon, had been sent by Danzo outside the Root Base with no secrecy measures whatsoever.

With behavior like that, no one would believe he belonged to Root!

Honestly, when Sarutobi Toru had seen Might Duy in Root's top-secret files, he had been shocked. He had never expected that the perennial Genin from the manga was actually a Root member—and a Class A member at that, the highest rank and most heavily classified.

But on further thought, it was not that surprising. The Eight Gates had existed since the Warring States period—Madara himself had said he had seen it—so it clearly had not been created by Might Duy. Besides, Might Duy's history as a perpetual Genin had always been suspicious.

Ninja was a profession that valued strength above all else. It did not matter whether it came from taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, Secret Techniques, or Kekkei Genkai. As long as you were strong enough, you would have status. The claim that someone remained a Genin just because they relied solely on taijutsu was something to take with a grain of salt. Few people cared about that.

Moreover, although Might Duy acted a little foolish, he had never concealed his strength. Even without using the Eight Gates, his daily training runs all over Konoha had been plain for everyone to see!

Any ninja with a little experience could tell from the volume of his training just how formidable his physical condition was. Claiming that no one had ever discovered his strength was seriously underestimating Konoha Village.

And why was it that Might Duy, who had never undertaken any combat missions, encountered the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist the very first time he appeared? Clearly, it had been arranged long ago. Might Duy was undoubtedly the kind of ultimate weapon meant for a single use.

To remain unknown, train bitterly for decades, all for one suicidal mission—such an approach fit Root's principles perfectly.

Even Danzo's later refusal to let Might Guy join Root was most likely repayment for the dead Duy. Otherwise, with Danzo's personality, how could he possibly turn down the chance to recruit such a powerful fighter?

Still, this single-celled personality was truly beyond Sarutobi Toru's ability to handle!

He could only keep a straight face and say coldly, "I don't care how you spend your youth. You can do regular physical training, but this training method cannot exceed one hour a day! Do you understand?!"

"Understood! Lord Toru, for the sake of my future youth, I will do my best to restrain myself!"

Sarutobi Toru was still somewhat uneasy. "I'll have someone specifically record your future training. If there's a next time, forget about learning the next stage of the technique."

Might Duy immediately wilted. "Sob, sob, sob... Is this youth? Full of setbacks and sorrow. But even so, I'll work hard!"

Sarutobi Toru: To hell with your youth!